In the next session of the Amsterdam Reading Group we will consider the Senegalese artist collective Laboratoire Agit-Art that emerged in reaction to the heavy state sponsorship of the arts by President Leopold Senghor, including issues relating to the translation of work between cultural contexts, and objects of performance into objects on exhibition.

We will do this by reading two sections of a chapter from Elizabeth Harney's book 'In Senghor's Shadow: Art, Politics, and the Avant-Garde in Senegal, 1960-1995' (2004) that provide a historical overview of the Laboratoire Agit-Art and a critical reflection on the early reception of the Laboratorie Agit-Art's work in international presentations.

To complement Harney's text is a frieze review by Okwui Enwenzor titled 'Occupied Territories' (1996), and a catalogue essay by the Laboratoire Agit-Art member El Sy titled 'Objects of Performance', for the exhibition Seven Stories About Modern Art In Africa (1995).